Judge throws out Driehaus suit against anti-abortion group

Judge: 'Free speech' right protects even false statements

7:50 PM,
Jan. 29, 2013

Former congressman Steve Driehaus

Written by

Janice Morse

In a case that illustrates how "free speech and truth collide most violently in the political arena," a federal judge has dismissed former U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus' lawsuit claiming that an anti-abortion group made false, damaging statements about him.

Judge Timothy S. Black's ruling, issued Friday in U.S. District Court, said he reconsidered his earlier analysis of the case, which was leaning in Driehaus' favor versus the Susan B. Anthony List.

That anti-abortion group had campaigned against Driehaus, asserting that, by voting for the national health care law, he was supporting ...